Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. The Torah portion for this week is Parsha Chukat-Balak, Numbers 19:1-25:9.

A lot happens in this parsha, but I want to talk about two things specifically. First, the punishment of Moses that kept him from ever entering the Promised Land and second, the use of war in the Torah.

Chukat-Balak opens with a game-changing event for the Israelites. Miriam, who had been the people's divinely ordained source of water since they began their trek through the wilderness, passes away. Desperate in their thirst, the Israelites do what they do best: they complain, dramatically. Moses and Aaron ask God what to do about the water shortage, so God tells Moses to go out to a specific rock (probably a large natural structure) and speak to it. According to God, water will then flow from the rock. But when Moses goes to the rock, he angrily addresses the Israelites and strikes the rock with his staff. Water does indeed flow from it, but because he went against God's instructions, Moses is punished. God forbids Moses from ever entering the Promised Land.

This may seem like something of a harsh punishment. All things considered, Moses actually got off pretty light. In the Torah, even in last week's parsha, people were killed for crimes of equal severity. The question we must ask is why Moses is punished in such a way. This passage is a lesson about the tendency of leaders to be too severe. Indeed this is a motif for the entire parsha. Where talking would have sufficed, Moses brought violence and anger. In modern language, Moses decided to forgo diplomacy. If we accept that the Promised Land is as much a state of mind as an actual place, God's punishment of Moses simply points out that hotheadedness and violence have no place in an ideal society.

Later in the parsha the Israelites need to pass through lands that are occupied by other kingdoms. They ask to peacefully move from one border to the other, even promising to leave any resources untouched, or to pay for what resources they take. The first king refuses to let them pass under threat of war, while the second king, Sichon of the Amorites, denies them passage and brings war even though the Israelites don't cross his border. What results is a systematic route of the Amorite kingdom.

Once again, where talking and civility would have sufficed, a leader brought violence. Sichon's punishment is to see his kingdom crumble. Placing these two stories, the smiting of the stone and the Amorite war, side by side we see just what the Torah wants to express about the responsibility of leaders. One way or another, anger and violence will lead to the destruction of a people.

Whether or not the historical Israelites were such adept warriors is mostly irrelevant. Though many sages past and present would disagree with me, I believe the value of the Torah is in the lessons of its metaphors, not as a historical document. Parsha Chukat-Balak, for all its death and war, is about the necessity of even-handedness and neighborly peace. Countless times in our own lives, we are faced with problems that can be solved by delicate means. In other words, don't strike the rocks to which you need only speak.